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| Occidental College - courtesy of Steve Cohen |
Led by MVP Barnaby Audsley, the Occidental College Tigers bounced back from an opening pool play loss to Western New England University to win the inaugural NSCRO National 7s Championship by defeating the University of North Florida 28-15 at PPL Park on Sunday June 2 in front of more than 6,000 rugby fans. Coach Dallen Stanford, a former Eagle 7s player, could not have been happier. The NSCRO 7s Championship event was held in conjunction with USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championships (CRCs).
The 8 participating teams, who qualified for Nationals based on the results of 7 NSCRO Qualifying Tournaments held throughout the country, showed up in matching gear, looked ready to play and represented their schools and small college rugby very well. On the field the teams certainly looked like they belonged in a professionally run event with web and TV coverage.
Pool A:
Grove City College (GCC), Grove City, PA
New England College (NEC), Henniker, NH
Roger Williams University (RWU), Bristol, RI
Simpson College (SC), Indianola, Iowa
Pool B:
University of North Florida (UNF), Jacksonville, FL
Occidental College (OC), Los Angeles, CA
Susquehanna University (SU), Selinsgrove, PA
Western New England University (WNE), Springfield, MA
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| UNF's Trace Horevitz - courtesy of Contrast Photography |
The top 4 teams were provided with NSCRO team trophies and gift certificates courtesy of World Rugby Shop. In addition, gold player medals were provided to Occidental and silver medals to North Florida, along with the MVP trophy to Barnaby Audsley.
